PNW people, do you all have a/c? Praying for your region

[TravelingChris]

After reading about how high the temps will be reaching in your area, I am really worried.  Do all of you have A/C?  What are the officials in your given area doing to protect the particularly vulnerable like the elderly?  Are they anticipating power failures?

I used to live in Sacramento where such temps were not at all out of the ordinary.  One month, we had every day over a hundred and many way over.  But we had A/C so we just stayed indoors.  

[KSera]

I read earlier today that 2/3 of people in that area don't have a/c. I'm very, very worried about what those kind of temperatures are going to be like in an area that is not at all built or prepared for it. It's like the opposite problem of what happened in Texas with the freezing temps. I remember growing up in house with no a/c, how hot the house would get at night just when it was 80 degrees for several days in a row. I feel a bit panicky at the thought of what temperature people's houses will be with temps over 100 and no a/c 😢. Adding my prayers as well.

Edited June 25, 2021 by KSera

[Corraleno]

My A/C is adequate for the "normal" high temps here (high 80s and occasionally low 90s), but the next 3 days are supposed to be 106, 113, and 109, followed by another whole week of mid- to high 90s. Assuming the A/C holds out, I can probably keep the downstairs in the 80s, but it will generally only cool the upstairs by about 10 degrees — so 113* outside would be 93* in the bedrooms. I'll likely be sleeping on the couch for the next week or so.

I'm also really worried about the wildlife here, given the combination of extreme heat and no rain, so I scattered containers of water around the yard for the feral cat that lives around here as well as all the squirrels, birds, raccoons, possums, and other critters.

 

 

Edited June 25, 2021 by Corraleno

[TravelingChris]

2 minutes ago, Corraleno said:

My A/C is adequate for the "normal" high temps here (high 80s and occasionally low 90s), but the next 3 days are supposed to be 106, 113, and 109, followed by another whole week of mid- to high 90s. Assuming the A/C holds out,

 

In one of the torrentially hot summers in Sacremento, our A/c froze and so I really do hope your A/C holds out.

[rebcoola]

We are on the east side where it gets triple digits normally but I've never seen over 108 so the 115 will be rough.  Lots of older houses won't be able to keep up even with AC.  We are actually out of town so good timing for us.  The messaging is to call your city and they will tell you someplace to cool off.

[Ali in OR]

I'm guessing that in my town at least half have AC, probably more. We have it--considered it a necessity with our disabled dd. It used to be common to not have AC (like when we moved here 25+ years ago), but newer homes tend to have it now. Still, not everyone does. So the remedies:

-Head to the coast where it will be more like 70° (lots of us are about an hour away)
-Many places will be open to shelter in with AC. One movie theater is doing free family movies all day Sunday (the 111° day).
-Head to local rivers/watering holes.

 

Edited June 25, 2021 by Ali in OR

[Resilient]

We have found some temperature reduction by hosing down the roof from time to time during super hot days.  We also hose down the patio and pool deck.  Then we curse the flippers who painted the house black.  

We have A/C.  It is the first thing DH buys when we get a new house. 

[Loowit]

We ave a/c, hopefully it can keep up.  I thought about trying to escape to the coast, but I am sure it will be horribly crowded.  My parents only have a small window unit that they keep in their bedroom.  I am hoping they will be okay.  We invite them over to our house on hot days but they have never taken us up on it.

We have at least one cooling shelter in the area that I know about, but usually there would be more.  Covid restrictions are limiting what they can do.  I have also seen a lot of restaurants here limiting hours, or just plain closing, for the hottest days.

[Pen]

PSA WARNING: also, watch for toxic (esp to dogs) algae blooms if going into natural water to cool off. 
 

No A/C here. Yup. It’s hot. I’ve lived in Brazil and other hot places with no AC - but I was younger .  and even then have had heat sickness.  I cancelled appointments I had because even if places I was supposed to go would have AC I did not want to cope with hot parking lots and vehicle waiting in sun.   
 

I hope there will be no power failures. No idea what if anything is being done to protect people. 
 

I am under a tree with a wet towel around my shoulders. My ds and his friends went to a pool. I expect it will be very crowded.

 

 

[Frances]

We are fortunate to have central AC in our older home. We used to just have a window unit in our bedroom, but due to allergies finally went for central air. We’ve never faced 110+ before, so we’ll have to see how it does. Our basement is pretty naturally cool, so worse case scenario we can sleep in the bedroom down there. I think AC is relatively common in newer homes here, but not so much in older homes. My community has announced several cooling shelters, although most close in the early evening. I’m also worried about wildfires, as we’ve had a very dry spring. 

Normally, we have escaped to the coast when hot weather is predicted, but are pushing to finish some remodel work, so won’t be doing so this time. The traffic jams there will be very bad, based on past experiences.

[Tap]

A/C in my home and car so we will be fine. When we installed our unit, we got one for a house double our size so it keeps up with higher temps. 
 

There are lots of cooling off places here in the city, but I do worry a smidge about COVID spikes afterwards. The mall, cooling centers, places like the Elks or other community programs. If it gets too bad/over crowded they can also open up the convention center (public transportation is pretty common in the city). 

[KSera]

1 hour ago, rebcoola said:

We are on the east side where it gets triple digits normally but I've never seen over 108 so the 115 will be rough.  Lots of older houses won't be able to keep up even with AC.  We are actually out of town so good timing for us.  The messaging is to call your city and they will tell you someplace to cool off.

Like Tap said, I’m thinking Covid plus cooling shelters is a really unfortunate combination, especially areas with low vaccination rates. What causes a/c to freeze up? Are there things people can do to prevent that from happening?

[prairiewindmomma]

So, for people not acquainted with mild PNW summers, normal temperatures for this time of year are supposed to be in the 75-80 range. It is rare to hit 100F. It is especially unusual that we are talking about temps in the 105-112 range, and for three sustained days in a row.

We have cooling shelters open in my city but they close overnight. Neighbors have been coordinating sharing fans, floor space, and frozen water bottles. We have ac, but it struggles. We can’t get upstairs below 80F in normal weather. We are planning to camp out on the main floor. 
 

We would normally head to the beach but it’s going to be extremely crowded. We can make it here as long as the ac holds out. 100F was normal When we lived in TX, but we are no longer accustomed to hot weather.

[prairiewindmomma]

Vax rates are pushing 70% in my county and you have to be masked to enter the shelter, so covid is less of a concern than it would be in other parts of the world.

[Tanaqui]

A/Cs typically freeze because they don't drain properly. If it's a window unit, make sure it slants slightly downward in the back and that the drain is totally unblocked. Then unplug it until it's totally thawed, and run it on fan for about half an hour afterwards.

Can't help you with central air, never had that.

[Jean in Newcastle]

There are cooling stations.  Though I'm not sure how they are going to manage those plus Covid restrictions on numbers. 

We have a portable a/c.  Our basement is also much cooler than the rest of the house and while it isn't the most comfortable, we could make do down there. 

I grew up where we would make our own swamp coolers of sorts so if I need to I can do that. 

I am actually the most worried about my bunnies but I have water bottles freezing int he freezer that I will put against them.

[TravelingChris]

14 minutes ago, Tanaqui said:

A/Cs typically freeze because they don't drain properly. If it's a window unit, make sure it slants slightly downward in the back and that the drain is totally unblocked. Then unplug it until it's totally thawed, and run it on fan for about half an hour afterwards.

Can't help you with central air, never had that.

I don't remember what the cause was.  We did have central air but we were in a military house, so it wasn't ours and this happened probably 25 years ago too/

[EKS]

No a/c here, but we do have a basement that stays quite cool.  We are also pretty close to the sound, which I've heard is supposed to be helpful.

[TravelingChris]

I just remember a Chicago heat wave that was only to a 100 and lots of people died.  And also, the first year we lived in Belgium, there was a very unusual hot summer and in August, in France, too many people in health care and social work, etc went on their usual vacation and it caused a tremendous amount of deaths. 

I know that heat is the deadliest natural disaster in the US.

[Pawz4me]

24 minutes ago, Tanaqui said:

A/Cs typically freeze because they don't drain properly. If it's a window unit, make sure it slants slightly downward in the back and that the drain is totally unblocked. Then unplug it until it's totally thawed, and run it on fan for about half an hour afterwards.

Can't help you with central air, never had that.

A coolant leak, or lack of enough coolant, is a common cause of freeze ups with central A/C.

[Corraleno]

The weather service just increased the predicted temperatures for the next four days. This is seriously going to kill people 

[Bambam]

We live in TX with central A/C. I can't imagine facing that kind of heat with just a window unit. 
Even central A/C won't cool the house as low as you might like it with those temperatures. 
I hope everyone has fans, misters, ice, etc.   

[Lawyer&Mom]

We don’t have AC, but we are going to camp out at my in-laws for the weekend because they do.  I’m most worried about power outages…

[Laurie]

No Air Conditioner here.  I'm toast, literally.  

But I'm trying to be optimistic... according to the news, the record here was 103 degrees in 2009 and I guess we survived. 

I just heard UW professor of Atmospheric Sciences Cliff Mass on the radio.  He doesn't have air conditioning either and he expects to survive.  I might check his weather blog this weekend just to be sure!  (I only seem to read his blog when we're expecting extreme weather.)

Right now it's about 5:30pm Friday and it's 80 degrees in my kitchen.  Our basement is 10 degrees cooler, and I'm afraid to check the temp upstairs where all the bedrooms are!    

We have many fans, but unfortunately my daughter (with autism) isn't a fan of fans.  She makes it her business to go around turning them off.  I don't know if it's the mechanical sound or the feel of air moving...she won't tell us what it is.   At least my son (also on the spectrum) tolerates fans, EXCEPT near the table when he's eating because he doesn't want air blowing on his food.   And neither will eat outside because of bugs, but that won't matter this weekend since our little patio has a brick wall and will be like an oven.

TravelingChris and others, thank you for your prayers!  If you don't hear from me again you can assume I went out in a blaze of Laurie.  

 

 

 

 

 

[TravelingChris]

1 minute ago, Laurie said:

No Air Conditioner here.  I'm toast, literally.  

But I'm trying to be optimistic... according to the news, the record here was 103 degrees in 2009 and I guess we survived. 

I just heard UW professor of Atmospheric Sciences Cliff Mass on the radio.  He doesn't have air conditioning either and he expects to survive.  I might check his weather blog this weekend just to be sure!  (I only seem to read his blog when we're expecting extreme weather.)

Right now it's about 5:30pm Friday and it's 80 degrees in my kitchen.  Our basement is 10 degrees cooler, and I'm afraid to check the temp upstairs where all the bedrooms are!    

We have many fans, but unfortunately my daughter (with autism) isn't a fan of fans.  She makes it her business to go around turning them off.  I don't know if it's the mechanical sound or the feel of air moving...she won't tell us what it is.   At least my son (also on the spectrum) tolerates fans, EXCEPT near the table when he's eating because he doesn't want air blowing on his food.   And neither will eat outside because of bugs, but that won't matter this weekend since our little patio has a brick wall and will be like an oven.

TravelingChris and others, thank you for your prayers!  If you don't hear from me again you can assume I went out in a blaze of Laurie.  

 

 

 

 

 

I really hope not.  Since your weather is bad during the day- go to libraries, malls, theaters, anyplace you can get cool.  What is remarkable,comparted to my encounters with this kind of weather is how cool it is getting at night.  In Sacramento, we used to have over 110 in day and down to 90s at night- that was miserable. But we did have A/C.  \

Unfortunately at 113, fans do not help in any way- they just blow around hot air.

[Frances]

5 minutes ago, TravelingChris said:

I really hope not.  Since your weather is bad during the day- go to libraries, malls, theaters, anyplace you can get cool.  What is remarkable,comparted to my encounters with this kind of weather is how cool it is getting at night.  In Sacramento, we used to have over 110 in day and down to 90s at night- that was miserable. But we did have A/C.  \

Unfortunately at 113, fans do not help in any way- they just blow around hot air.

Yes, the cooler nights and lack of high humidity does really help. But we are undoubtedly going to set records for several days. I really, really feel bad for people without AC. Hopefully we won’t have power issues, but I know medical facilities are preparing just in case.

[TravelingChris]

13 minutes ago, Frances said:

Yes, the cooler nights and lack of high humidity does really help. But we are undoubtedly going to set records for several days. I really, really feel bad for people without AC. Hopefully we won’t have power issues, but I know medical facilities are preparing just in case.

And that should definitely help prevent what happened in France in 2003.  

[rebcoola]

It's going to be long just saw our area might hit the longest streak ever of triple degrees.  I think that will wear on people and resources.

[Corraleno]

How is it possible that it keeps going up every few hours???.

[Resilient]

If you or an elderly loved one of fragile in this heat, consider getting a hotel room. One with A/C. With a little kitchenette you can eat-in if you bring some basics and  aren’t too picky for two or three days. It’s a Staycation. Check room availability soon because they can go fast. 
Make sure elders stay hydrated.  They don’t like to because it means they have to use the bathroom more and that is a lot of work for the very elderly. Gatorade might be a good idea. 
 

[KungFuPanda]

I hope they at least get some cool nights to offer relief.  I grew up without AC.  It was mostly fine, but there was always a sweltering week or two in August that was rough.  Do they have basements in the PNW?  

[Tap]

2 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said:

I hope they at least get some cool nights to offer relief.  I grew up without AC.  It was mostly fine, but there was always a sweltering week or two in August that was rough.  Do they have basements in the PNW?  

Some houses have basements but they are hit and miss due to the ground water table. The nights won't be bad, but one problem is the length of days right now. 

[Tap]

40 minutes ago, Corraleno said:

How is it possible that it keeps going up every few hours???.

Death Valley forecast for Sunday is 121*.  Ours is only 6* below that! OY!

 

My daughter lives in Vegas. The forecast for Southern Washington is hotter that Vegas for Sat, Sun and Mon. 

Edited June 26, 2021 by Tap

[mommyoffive]

Ideas

Popsicles - anything frozen we love frozen gogurts around here

Black out curtains

Freeze water to drink.  Or even to sleep with

Go to cooling centers, library, movie, the coast

Open windows at night and then closing them up in the morning.  Use your curtains or blinds to block the sun.

Hang out in the basement.  

Fans

Window AC 

Damp rag on your neck.  Even a frozen one

Don't cook in the oven

Even lights heat up the house, avoid using them

Pool, beach

cooling towels    Amazon.com : Cool Towel Cloth for Instant Relief (Blue, M) Use As Scarf Bandana Gaiter Soft Breathable ICY Ice Mesh Neck Towel, Stay Cold Cool for Men Women Children Dogs with Waterproof Bag & Carabiner : Sports & Outdoors

Fans that blow mist too 

 

7 DIY Air Conditioners That Are Surprisingly Effective (popularmechanics.com)

 

cold showers

Tin foil on your windows shinny side out

bowls of ice in front of fans

go to a hotel

 

Edited June 26, 2021 by mommyoffive

[LucyStoner]

We just got home from staying in a cabin.  No AC and no basement.  We do have fans and have made swamp coolers before.  A friend of mine and I booked hotel rooms for Sunday and Monday- AC and pool.  It’s a splurge but it’s usually what we do on the hottest couple of days of a heat wave.  There are still rooms available for around $125/night.  

I would have booked Saturday too (or booked for the coast instead!) but we have to get our youngest son out the door for camp on Sunday morning and I have a client meeting on Monday.  It’s pretty warm tonight- we have the windows open and fans going.  I bought a bunch of ice as well.  My brother noticed movie tickets are selling out for this weekend, probably that is going to be a popular location for air conditioning access.  

Edited June 26, 2021 by LucyStoner

[mommyoffive]

5 minutes ago, LucyStoner said:

No AC and no basement.  We do have fans and have made swamp coolers before.  A friend of mine and I booked hotel rooms for Sunday and Monday- AC and pool.  It’s a splurge but it’s usually what we do on the hottest couple of days of a heat wave.  There are still rooms available for around $125/night.  

Smart move.  

[Frances]

1 hour ago, KungFuPanda said:

I hope they at least get some cool nights to offer relief.  I grew up without AC.  It was mostly fine, but there was always a sweltering week or two in August that was rough.  Do they have basements in the PNW?  

Compared to the Midwest, far fewer have basements, mainly older homes. They are especially rare in newer homes. It was one of my husband’s criteria when we bought, so we do have one.

[LucyStoner]

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

Smart move.  

If it were just me and my husband and older son (younger son leaves for camp Sunday), we’d probably tough it out at home as we are trying to watch the budget for longer term goals but my dad is 78 and lives on the third floor of a low income senior housing tower near downtown.  No AC, marginal ventilation and the windows don’t open that much.  Hotel is non-negotiable for him!  

[Laurie]

1 hour ago, KungFuPanda said:

I hope they at least get some cool nights to offer relief.  I grew up without AC.  It was mostly fine, but there was always a sweltering week or two in August that was rough.  Do they have basements in the PNW?  

I think this is the reason we don't have AC...dh was born and raised in NYC without it and he has always said that it isn't worth it here for the few hot days in the summer without the humidity.   (I also get zero sympathy when it snows here!)  

The house I grew up in had a basement, and my dh couldn't understand why a basement was so important to me when we were looking at houses!   

[mommyoffive]

10 minutes ago, LucyStoner said:

If it were just me and my husband and older son (younger son leaves for camp Sunday), we’d probably tough it out at home as we are trying to watch the budget for longer term goals but my dad is 78 and lives on the third floor of a low income senior housing tower near downtown.  No AC, marginal ventilation and the windows don’t open that much.  Hotel is non-negotiable for him!  

I am so glad you are able to do that for him.  I am so worried about everyone else who lives in that senior housing.  I hope they take them all out of there to a cooling center. 

[Laurie]

mommyoffive,  I like your list!

I haven't used foil on the windows, but I have a big collection of auto sun shades in a variety of sizes/styles!  I also use space blankets to cover some of the bigger windows.    

[gardenmom5]

8 hours ago, Ali in OR said:

 -Head to the coast where it will be more like 70° (lots of us are about an hour away)

-Many places will be open to shelter in with AC. One movie theater is doing free family movies all day Sunday (the 111° day).
-Head to local rivers/watering holes.

 

warnings:
Coastal beaches do not have life guards.  Neither do a lot of the river parks, and even few of the lake parks that have swim beaches.  The water will be significantly cooler than the air temps, which can be disorienting if you go into deeper water.   Rip tides, etc. in the ocean.  People need to be aware.  We've friends who are avid river rafters (father and son are both certified for Cat 5 rapids (cat 6 are considered impassible.) - many people lack experience and get in over their heads very fast.

Hotels, campgrounds, etc. along the ocean are nearly all booked, 

I have read reports of cooling centers.

6 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

 . It is especially unusual that we are talking about temps in the 105-112 range, and for three sustained days in a row.

 

I've lived here my whole life, and have no memory of it ever getting above 100.

If you can run your fan to circulate - have large containers of water near vents.

5 hours ago, EKS said:

No a/c here, but we do have a basement that stays quite cool.  We are also pretty close to the sound, which I've heard is supposed to be helpful.

My grandmother would get breezes off the sound - water is cooling.  By chance we were crossing from bainbridge to seattle on the hottest day of the year (25 years ago).  It was 100 degrees - it was very pleasant on that ferry ride.  the middle of the sound was "cool".  (usually it's downright cold - even on a normal 'hot' day.)

2 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

I hope they at least get some cool nights to offer relief.  I grew up without AC.  It was mostly fine, but there was always a sweltering week or two in August that was rough.  Do they have basements in the PNW?  

older homes in seattle and surrounding tend to have daylight basements because of all the hills.  Homes in "flat" areas don't.  Newer homes tend to not have basements.  (unless it's on a really steep hill)

How cool a basement stays will depend upon insulation, how much of the basement is below grade, direction it is facing, etc.

 

we have a full below grade basement, and A/C.

Edited June 26, 2021 by gardenmom5

[Resilient]

7 minutes ago, Frances said:

Compared to the Midwest, far fewer have basements, mainly older homes. They are especially rare in newer homes. It was one of my husband’s criteria when we bought, so we do have one.

They are rare partly due to geology but partly because the cost to build vs return is very low on basements in this part of the country.  Developers get a lot more ROI on a second story and have for about 30 years. 

[Resilient]

22 minutes ago, Laurie said:

I think this is the reason we don't have AC...dh was born and raised in NYC without it and he has always said that it isn't worth it here for the few hot days in the summer without the humidity.   (I also get zero sympathy when it snows here!)  

The house I grew up in had a basement, and my dh couldn't understand why a basement was so important to me when we were looking at houses!   

As I mentioned upthread, DH gets A/C the minute we close on a new house.  I have always thought it ridiculous ... until I didn't.

Here is something to consider: the fires that burned in WA, OR, CA last year put tons and tons of ash into to air.  It was difficult for many people to breathe when they were outside or relied on "natural" ventilation.  (I am all in favor of natural ventilation--don't get me wrong.  I prefer it...except...)  A/C also provides a lot of air filtration.  In our house and our cars, after last years fires, the air filters were completely shot...black.  All of them had to be replaced.  Better that than my lungs.  

[mommyoffive]

Stay safe everyone!  My thoughts are with everyone.  Check in when you can. 

[Tap]

One big concern for the heat, is that the 4th of July is just over a week away. Vancouver (just over the river from Portland Oregon) has a fire works ban, but the county surrounding it does not. Huge (!!!) fireworks are legal and regular neighborhoods put on full fireworks shows. It is absolutely crazy what passes for legal and how many people go beyond that and set off illegal ones too. It is going to be a horrible year for fires. I wish they would ban them just due to the dry conditions alone, but if they do, it will have to be before the sellers start selling 6-28 at noon. 

[LucyStoner]

2 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

I am so glad you are able to do that for him.  I am so worried about everyone else who lives in that senior housing.  I hope they take them all out of there to a cooling center. 

They have a social worker there who has, in previous heat situations, delivered fans and cold beverages and arranged rides to places with AC.  I know some people also go stay with their families.  There’s a large, chilly church (the sort of place that you can wear a coat in summer becuase stone is just cold material) across the street that I assume will be open. 

[LucyStoner]

49 minutes ago, Tap said:

One big concern for the heat, is that the 4th of July is just over a week away. Vancouver (just over the river from Portland Oregon) has a fire works ban, but the county surrounding it does not. Huge (!!!) fireworks are legal and regular neighborhoods put on full fireworks shows. It is absolutely crazy what passes for legal and how many people go beyond that and set off illegal ones too. It is going to be a horrible year for fires. I wish they would ban them just due to the dry conditions alone, but if they do, it will have to be before the sellers start selling 6-28 at noon. 

Fireworks are illegal here but people just don’t care and use them anyways.  It’s not a good mix with the heat, that’s for sure.  

[TravelingChris]

7 hours ago, LucyStoner said:

If it were just me and my husband and older son (younger son leaves for camp Sunday), we’d probably tough it out at home as we are trying to watch the budget for longer term goals but my dad is 78 and lives on the third floor of a low income senior housing tower near downtown.  No AC, marginal ventilation and the windows don’t open that much.  Hotel is non-negotiable for him!  

Oh yes, absolutely.  Heat is so dangerous for the elderly.  Those are who died in both the Chicago and France disasters.

[TravelingChris]

6 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

I am so glad you are able to do that for him.  I am so worried about everyone else who lives in that senior housing.  I hope they take them all out of there to a cooling center. 

Yes, I do too.  Otherwise, you will be looking at deaths.